Exploiting the Change
by denise1
Summary: A missing scene for Metamorphosis - Sam and Jack


Exploiting the Change

By

Denise

The machine turned off and Jack knelt down, frowning as Sam didn't stir. "I thought you said this was going to fix her?" he asked his fingers fumbling at her neck. He felt a bit of relief when he found her pulse, throbbing weakly under the sweat covered skin of her neck.

"We will know shortly," Egar said, stepping away from the console.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked as the man knelt at his side.

"If there was too much cellular degradation, the machine will not be able to heal her. We will know if she wakes up," he said. Jack barely registered the man's words, his fingers trailing up her neck and across her cheek. It had to work, he wouldn't accept it if it didn't. She wasn't going to die, not like Evanov, not at all if Jack had anything to say about it.

_"I wonder if the change is fueled by your metabolism?" she muttered, drawing Jack's attention from the bars to her. She was lying on the bunk, her legs drawn up to leave him room to sit. Her eyes were closed and her face covered in sweat. If he watched closely, he could see her face tense, her fists clench atop her stomach as a spasm of pain washed through her. She never made a sound, all he ever heard was her breath occasionally catching as she tried to keep quiet._

_He knew why she was doing it, it wasn't just her pride, she was doing it for them, trying to keep them from realizing just how little time she had left. "What do you mean?" he asked just as softly, not sure if she'd even answer him. She'd been fading in and out for the past few hours, asleep he liked to think, although unconscious was far more likely._

_"I wonder if the change stops if you're dead?"_

_"Carter?"_

_"If I die before it's complete, maybe I won't …melt," she whispered, her meaning clear. If he killed her, then maybe they'd have a body to take back, assuming they could escape before they were all killed. And taking a body back meant that Jacob would have something to bury._

_"It's not gonna come to that," he promised. She opened her eyes and stared at him, the word 'liar' clear in her gaze. "We're getting out of here…all of us," he insisted. "You just have to hang on. That's an order." She closed her eyes and he saw her tense, gasping in pain. He laid a hand on her leg, feeling more helpless than he had in a long time.  "Sam?"_

_"I don't wanna die like that," she whispered, her voice trailing off as she again faded into unconsciousness. _

"She would be more comfortable there."

"What?" Jack pulled his attention from the past to the present.

"Nirti has chambers upstairs," Jonas said moving forward to kneel beside Jack. "They'd be more comfortable than the cells or lying on the floor."

Jack looked to Wodan who nodded his assent. "What about them?" Jack asked nodding towards Teal'c and Jonas.

"They are safe here," Egar said

.

Jack shook his head. "Jonas is next."

"There's nothing wrong with me," Jonas said.

"You were gone longer than Carter…"

"She didn't change me, Colonel. She said she couldn't. Not until…"

"Until what?"

Jonas blushed, looking uncomfortably towards the body in the corner. "She wanted me as her aah…"

"Nirti believed Jonas Quinn would be a most excellent consort," Egar spoke up. "She did not wish to alter him until she had his full cooperation with her plans."

"So she didn't do anything to you? You're sure?"

"I'm sure, Colonel," Jonas insisted.

"Ok." Jack nodded. "Teal'c, you and Jonas get back to the gate, tell Hammond what's happened. See if the Russians went home, if not, then we need to round them up."

"What about you and Major Carter?" Teal'c asked.

"I'm gonna take her upstairs," he said, bending over to pick Sam up. He stood up, shifting her in his arms a bit. "Wodan, Egar, can we have our stuff back?"

"Your supplies and communications devices, yes. Your weapons, no," the mutant said.

Jack shrugged, it didn't really matter. Their weapons were pretty much useless against these guys anyway. "Teal'c," he ordered, pausing to watch the three men leave the room, before he turned and followed Egar up the stairs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam slowly opened her eyes, frowning as she realized she had no idea where she was. The room was sparsely decorated, but opulent. Candlelight reflected off blue marble walls, illuminating a few tapestries hanging from long wooden poles. There was a table and divan a short distance away, the surface of the table cluttered with glittering gold items.

She was lying on something soft, far softer than the cot down in the cell. The cell. Why wasn't she down in the cell? Her heart lurched as she remembered Nirti's threat of taking her as a host. She pushed herself up, struggling to gain purchase against the soft mattress and the multitude of pillows.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, trying to figure out if she could make it to the door. She had to get out of here. Maybe the door wasn't locked. If she could just get down to the cells maybe…

The door started to open and she gasped, frantically looking around for a weapon of some sort. Grabbing a small statue off a bedside table she held it tight, hiding it among the pillows. "Colonel?" she said, seeing a masculine figure stride into the room rather than the goa'uld she was expecting.

"Hey, you're awake. How do you feel?" he asked, crossing the room a canteen and a small sack in his hands. She stared at him, trying to sense the presence of a goa'uld. Could Nirti have jumped into him? "Carter? You ok?" he asked, standing in front of her. "You're not feeling sick again are you?" He set down the canteen and raised his hand, feeling her forehead with his palm.

"What happened?" she asked softly, still trying to reconcile things in her mind. The last thing she remembered, she'd been lying in the cell, knowing that she'd just seen him for the last time, that she'd be dead before he returned from Nirti.

"Egar opened his mind, or rather Nirti's," he said, moving to sit beside her on the bed. "He realized she'd been lying to them all along, in addition to murdering his people."

"So he turned on her," she said.

"You could say that. She's dead."

"If she's dead then…"

"Before he killed her, he pulled out how to fix things," Jack interrupted. "He undid what she did to you, and I'm guessing, is going to fix his friends."

She nodded, turning her senses inward. She did feel different. The burning, tearing sensation was gone, now replaced by the dull ache of pulled muscles. She vaguely remembered the cramps she'd had, a wrenching feeling that had left her unable to do much more than just lie there and wait for it to end.

"You ok?" he asked, laying his hand on her arm.

"Fine," she replied automatically.

"Sam?" He took her hand in his. "The truth," he demanded gently.

She shook her head slightly. "I just thought I'd wake up dead is all. This is a bit of a surprise."

"A pleasant one I hope?"

"Yeah," she nodded slightly, her eyes drifting closed. She couldn't remember ever feeling this tired. "Jonas," she said abruptly, remembering events of the last few hours. "They took Jonas."

"He's ok," Jack reassured. "Nirti didn't even touch him. He and Teal'c went to brief Hammond and check on the Russians. They should be back in a bit."

"That's good," she said, lacking the energy to do much else.

"Come on," he said suddenly, standing up. He released her hand, frowning a bit as she instead tightened her grip, maintaining the contact. "You need to get some sleep," he said, gently pushing her towards the pillows. "I'll go see if Teal'c and Jonas are back yet." He tried to pull his hand from hers.

"They know where we are, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Can't they come find you?" she asked, suddenly desperate not to let him go, the fear of the last few hours coming back full force.

"Carter?"

She shook her head, letting his hand go. "Nothing. I'm sorry. I'm just tired, I guess. I think I will lie down for a bit." She scooted back on the bed and laid down, deliberately rolling over to face away from him. She closed her eyes, telling herself that the ache in her chest was simply a result of all she'd been through.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack watched her, knowing that if he was smart he'd go, check on Teal'c and Jonas, let Egar know that he'd apparently undone whatever Nirti had done. If he was smart, he'd do a lot of things.

But for some strange reason, no one had accused him of being too smart lately.  Shucking his jacket, he tossed it on the foot of the bed and climbed in, pausing a second before spooning up behind her.

"Colonel?" She tensed and tried to roll towards him.

"Ssh," he soothed, using his arm around her stomach to pull her close. "Like you said, they know where we're at." After a second, he felt her sigh, then settle back, snuggling in. He listened to her even breathing, a sound he'd thought he'd never hear again, before falling asleep himself.

It was several hours when he woke again, the passage of time denoted by the light streaming in the window, and the irritating pressure on his bladder.  He became aware of another pressure on his left side and looked down, frowning at the sight of a mop of blond hair resting on his shoulder. Oh yeah, now he remembered.

Careful not to wake her, he brought up his right hand, relieved to find her skin cool and dry. It looked like Egar had done good. He let out a sigh of relief, instinctively tightening his arm around her. Close, too close. They'd, HE'D come way too close to losing her this time. A little less doubt, a little more fanaticism on Egar's behalf and she'd have died.

Oddly enough, that idea scared him more than the prospect of going through Nirti's machine himself. Too many times he'd had the 'good fortune' to survive his friends. Each time it hurt a little more, cut a little deeper. He didn't know how much longer he could keep doing it. How many times he could keep being the survivor before it simply hurt too much to go on.

He felt her stir and he loosened his grip, trying to extricate himself without waking her.

Something dug into his right shoulder and he sat up, waking Sam in the process. "What?" she muttered as he dug into the pillows, pulling out a small statuette. "Colonel?"

"I think Nirti had some odd habits," he said, holding up the statue.

She blinked a couple of times, running her hand over her face. "Oh," she said, making a rueful face. "I think that was me."

"So I was your second choice?" he asked, studying the figurine. It was a fairly heavy stone carving, slightly bigger than his hand, made to represent some type of Indian god.

She shook her head, scooting up to prop her back against the headboard. "No. I…it was the closest thing to a weapon I could find on short notice," she said.

"Aah," he said, setting it back down on the table. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, thanks."

There was a knock at the door and he got up, motioning for her to stay on the bed. "It's open," he called.

The door opened and Teal'c walked into the room, carrying their packs and Sam's coat. "O'Neill. Major Carter, I am glad to see that you are once again well."

"Thanks, Teal'c," she smiled.

He nodded. "The Russian team returned safely to the SGC. Egar wishes to scan Major Carter one last time with the machine to insure that all the damage has been undone, then he wishes for us to return to Earth."

Sam scooted to the side of the bed, swinging her legs over, taking her jacket from Teal'c, and slipping it on. She got to her feet, taking a moment to steady herself. "Jonas?" she asked.

"He is below with Egar," Teal'c said.

She nodded and stepped forward, not protesting when he and Teal'c closed in, forming a bit of an escort. They made their way downstairs, walking into the room with the machine. Jonas was there, talking to Egar and Wodan. He looked up and smiled, his relief at seeing Sam healthy evident in his expression. She smiled back, then paused in the doorway; her gaze riveted on the machine. Jack stopped. "Carter?" She didn't respond, almost taking a step backwards. "I can have Teal'c get the morphine. We can knock you out," he suggested.

"What?" she turned to him, more than a little startled. "No," she shook her head. "That's ok." She took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"Major Carter," Egar said. "I am glad to see that you are well."

She pasted a small smile on her face. "Egar."

"If you would step onto the platform." He waved his misshapen hand. "This should not take long." She nodded, visibly steeling herself before stepping onto the platform.

Jack saw her close her eyes as the machine sprang into life.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Stargate came into sight and Sam sighed, never quite so glad to see that huge metal ring. "Jonas, dial it up," Jack ordered, falling back to stand by Sam and Teal'c.

"Did you know Jonas has a crush on one of the nurses?" she asked her companions, watching the Kelownan dial the DHD.

"He does?" Jack asked.

"Which woman holds his interest?"

"Lieutenant Rush," Sam answered as the gate opened and Jonas reached for his GDO.

"Rush…T, is she the brunette?"

"No, O'Neill. I believe she is more of a blonde."

"Oh, right. That one. He's got a crush huh?"

"Yes, sir. The problem is, it seems there's this Kelownan custom. A friend needs to introduce them before they can go out or anything," she said, knowing full well the danger she was unleashing. There was little in the mountain that would withstand a twin assault of O'Neill and Teal'c. And it had the added bonus of thoroughly distracting her teammates. Maybe if they had something else to concentrate on they'd stop staring at her like they expected her to disappear into thin air.

"We're good to go, Colonel," Jonas called, totally oblivious to the conversation, and the chaos that was to come.

Jack nodded, motioning the others forward. "Really? That's a weird custom. Pretty inefficient."

"It is not unheard of among Jaffa for any potential mate to first be vetted by one's acquaintances," Teal'c said.

"Vetted? Is that like test driving?"

"Is it just my imagination, or does Jonas look a little peaked?" Sam said, ignoring Jack's comment.

"He does look a little pale, wouldn't you say, Teal'c?"

"Indeed. I believe Jonas Quinn would benefit greatly from an extended stay amongst the nursing staff," Teal'c said, walking up the stairs.

Fin


End file.
